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Fay Reid's avatar

"what makes us a people. The most basic of such commitments are to democracy, the Constitution, equal political rights, equal opportunity, and the rule of law." These words define what it means to be an American' Wrapping one's arms around a flagpole and kissing the flag are not acts of patriotism, they are the acts of a clown shouting 'look at me'. That is not patriotic, that is desecration. I am an American by choice, not by accident of birth. Professor Reich's words are real patriotism, and thoughts I have always strived to follow from the day I became a citizen. Selfishness and greed are Unamerican. Kindness, tolerance, consideration, acceptance of differences, these are the characteristics of Real Americans.

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Charlie Jervis's avatar

It's odd and strange. I, apparently, have discovered something pretty crazy over the past 8 years. I (and I hope you) have come face to face with the fact that Democrats and Republicans are very different creatures. We are even more different than we thought. Not only are we on different sides of the political spectrum, we are different to our cores. As surprising as it may be, not every Repub is a repugnant, greedy, self aggrandizing human being. (Most are, but that's another story) There are some decent Repubs, but at the very core, we are different. Repubs tend to think like Bankman-Fried about civic virture. Democrats, on the other hand, ascribe to Robert's common good theory of citizenship. Robert's writing has made this clear, at least in my mind. That's where the difference lies, and explains why I can say that all Repubs aren't bad people. Their core beliefs as they pertain to the common good are failed beliefs, and that's the reason they can fall for a con man like trump, the good ones anyway. They don't believe in the common good theory as put forth by Robert is this article. There's a major difference between Repubs and Democrats that goes beyond left vs. right. And that is our very basic thought about the common good, democracy and self government.

It's a big difference. It's an Earth shattering difference. It happens without critical thinking. It's probably an inherited way of thinking. It's dangerous for humankind.

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